Bleed down at my feet
by Skovko
Summary: Roman promised to return to Aella but he fell in battle. Her promise to him is to avenge him. (Inspired by the song "The Promise" by Within Temptation.)
1. I'll avenge you

"Get Aella!" Seth shouted.

Aella raised her head and looked towards the door of her chamber. They were back from the battle. The sound of Seth's voice scared her. She stood up and her long maroon red dress fell to her ankles. Nervously she hurried from her chamber towards the room where all the men were gathered. She stepped inside and immediately looked into Dean's eyes.

"The OC got him, ma'am. I'm sorry," Dean said.

She pushed through the men gathered around, and suddenly she saw the man on the ground. Her king, her warrior, her fallen husband Roman.

"No!" She screamed.

She ran to him and fell to her knees. She buried her face in his chest and sobbed. Her long, wavy, black hair spread over his torso and shielded her burning face from everyone.

"Aella," Seth said.  
"Leave us!" Aella screamed.

She didn't look up at any of them but she heard them move out of the room. The last thing they all heard was her crying voice cursing Roman out for leaving her like that.

"You promised to return to me!" She cried. "You promised!"

She kept laying on the ground with him for hours. Her tears eventually ran dry and so did her curses but she didn't move until many hours later when Seth returned to the room. Seth was Roman's right hand man and the only man who dared come close to the heartbroken woman.

"Aella," he spoke softly. "May I please escort you to your chamber?"  
"I don't need your escort," she said.  
"I know but it will make me feel better. I failed to protect him. I won't fail to protect you too," he said.  
"There's no threat inside these walls," she said.

She finally looked up at him. Her pale green eyes had nothing but pain and sorrow inside them. He reached a hand down to help her to her feet. She looked down at her fallen man again.

"I'll avenge you," she said. "That's my promise to you."

She looked at Seth again and nodded. They walked in silence back to her chamber. He stopped outside and watched her walk through the door. She turned around, grabbed the door and looked at him.

"We'll get them," he said.  
"No one goes without my order," she said.  
"Of course not," he said. "Say the word and we'll hunt them down."  
"I'll hunt them down," she said.  
"But Aella..." He started.

She closed the door so he didn't have a chance to argue against her. He sighed deeply. He understood her anger and sadness. He had lost his best friend in battle today but she had lost so much more. She had lost the love of her life.


	2. Funeral

No one saw Aella for a week. She stayed behind the closed door in her chamber. Food would be left on a tray outside the door, and later the empty tray would be found again. It calmed everyone to know that she did eat and drink. Only one person was called to her chamber and that was a seamstress. Seth figured she was getting the funeral dress done for Roman's funeral.

Seth and everyone else were in for a surprise a week later for the funeral. Aella arrived at the last second and they could hardly recognize her. Gone was her long hair. She had shaved herself bald. She wasn't wearing a funeral dress or any dress at all. She was wearing a black catsuit with long legs and long sleeves. She looked like a woman about to head into battle.

No one spoke to her during the funeral. Seth stayed close to watch over her. She didn't share one single tear. Whatever tears she had to cry, they had fallen inside her chamber over the past week. As soon as the funeral was over, she turned on her heel and walked outside. Seth followed right behind. Outside the seamstress stood waiting with a crossbow in her hands that she handed to Aella.

"Aella!" Seth grabbed her arm. "What are you doing?"  
"What I said I would," she said. "I'm gonna avenge him."  
"Let me gather the men quickly," he said.  
"I'm going alone," she said.  
"No, I can't let you do that," he said.

She gave him a hard stare. He should know better than to argue with her. She was still in charge of him.

"You're gonna stay behind. All of you. That's an order," she said.  
"But..." His lip quivered. "What if you don't come back?"  
"Then you're in charge," she said.

He pulled her in for a tight hug. He knew it didn't look good that he hugged the woman of the man they had just buried but he couldn't care less. She was like a sister to him.

"It was AJ," he said. "AJ delivered the final blow to Roman."  
"Thank you," she said.  
"Wait for nightfall," he said. "And be quick. In and out. Don't think about it. Shoot anything that moves. I don't care if you hit a squirrel in the process."

She nodded and stepped out of his arms.

"And if you're not back by sunrise, I'm coming with all the men," he said.


	3. I promised to come back to you

Aella planned on being just as quick as Seth wanted her to. As soon as the sun had set, she moved towards the ground where the OC always was. Three men that always tried to rile up every person within miles to try and go against her and her husband. She didn't care about everyone else. She only cared about these three. They got her husband but they forgot that she was just as lethal as he had been. He had been lethal with a sword. She had trained with a crossbow since she was a child.

"Oh my god, she had the biggest breasts I've ever seen!" Karl laughed.

Karl and Luke were sitting in front of a bonfire. She looked around as much as the darkness allowed her to but she couldn't see AJ anywhere. She would find him eventually. Right now these two had to die first. She raised the crossbow and fired. The arrow went straight through Luke's skull and sent the man down to the ground without ever having felt a thing.

"Luke?" Karl asked. "What the hell?"

Karl jumped behind the bonfire. She couldn't see him for the tall flames. Of course she could always try with a lucky shot but she didn't want to waste any arrows. This was too important for her to fail.

"Who are you?" Karl yelled.  
"Do you really need to ask?" She yelled back.

She ran bare footed towards the bonfire. Just as she couldn't see him, he couldn't see her either. It was his mistake to keep talking so she could follow his voice.

"Aella?" He sounded surprised. "You of all people? Where are your men?"

She stepped up next to him with the crossbow raised. He sat crouched down as if he was expecting arrows to come flying over his head.

"I came alone," she said.

She fired the crossbow again. The arrow went straight through his left eye. He fell to the ground just like Luke had done. She took three steps backwards and looked around again. She knew AJ was near. She could feel it. She had to move back to the darkness while searching for him. She never got that far. An arrow went into her chest. She fell backwards and the crossbow flew out of her hand. She could feel her lungs slowly fill up with her own blood while she watched an angry AJ walk towards her with a bow in his hand.

"Oh, Aella," he sighed. "Has it really come to this? You're the one out seeking revenge for Roman? Did your men abandon you in your time of need?"

She wanted to tell him she came alone on purpose but she couldn't get a word out. She could hardly breathe. He sat down next to her and looked at the bonfire.

"It's okay. I'm gonna sit with you while you pass," he said. "Anyone else I would have thrown in the fire but I'm gonna make damn sure your men get your corpse back. I'm not gonna say you'll look pretty when that happens. I gotta send a message to let them know they can't mess with me. I'm rising up, Aella. I'm gonna take everything that was yours and Roman's. It's my time to shine."

She bent her leg and fumbled for her ankle. He chuckled at the sight and turned to watch the bonfire again. He thought she was trying to stand. She knew better than that. She would never stand again.

"They say your loved ones will come for you when you die," he said. "Do you think Roman will come for you?"

Her fingers finally closed around the small knife she had hid by her ankle. She pushed through everything and pressed the knife into AJ's chest as close to his heart as she could. She fell back down and watched as he did the same. She turned her head and saw his dead eyes. She wanted to laugh but instead coughed while still drowning in her own blood.

"Aella," Roman said.

She didn't know where he had come from but he leaned over her with a smile on his face. She felt warm and whole inside again.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.  
"I promised to come back to you," he answered.  
"Am I dead?" She asked.  
"Almost," he answered.  
"Good," she smiled.


End file.
